Ground Stop Slams LAX, Shutdown Squeeze Hits Air Traffic Control
Travelers headed for Los Angeles woke up to a mess. On Sunday morning, October 26, 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop for flights bound to Los Angeles International Airport after a staffing shortfall at a Southern California air traffic facility. The halt began at about 11:42 a.m. Eastern time and rippled across the system with average delays near an hour and forty minutes before the stop was lifted early afternoon. Flights leaving LAX were not greatly affected.
The cause tracks straight to Washington. With the federal government shutdown dragging into a fifth week, air traffic controllers have been working without pay. Stress climbed, bills came due, and more people called out, a predictable result when essential workers are expected to carry on without a paycheck. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy flagged an alarming twenty-two staffing triggers the previous day, one of the highest tallies of the shutdown.
LAX was not alone. Similar disruptions rippled into Newark Liberty, Teterboro, and Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers as facilities juggled thin crews and shifting traffic flows. The stop at LAX eased by 1:30 p.m. Eastern, but residual delays kept stacking at gates and on taxiways, and airlines urged passengers to verify flight status before heading out.
This is what happens when a precision system loses margin. Controllers are trained to manage airspace with zero room for error, yet they have been asked to do it while worrying about rent, groceries, and how their sick kid is going to get his medicine. Union leaders and industry analysts have warned for weeks that a shutdown would compound an already tight staffing picture at the FAA. The agency entered the fall short by thousands of certified controllers, and the shutdown has stalled training for the next cohort.
For passengers, the day looked like a slow bleed of time and money. Missed connections. Canceled plans. Crews were timing out while aircraft sat in penalty boxes far from Los Angeles. Even after the stop ended, schedules remained fragile as dispatchers rebuilt the flow measure by measure. The guidance stayed simple. Check the app. Expect lines. Give yourself slack.
Aviation is a team sport, and controllers are the play callers. When they are short, the entire field slows down. Ending the shutdown will not fix every issue at once, but it will put payback in pockets and training back on track, which is where safety and efficiency begin.
#BREAKING: A staffing shortage in Southern California’s airspace triggered a ground stop affecting Los Angeles International Airport flights on Sunday morning, the FAA said. Details: https://t.co/HRtsDX2lex pic.twitter.com/750nfa8Tfo
— KTLA (@KTLA) October 26, 2025
Trump–Xi Poised to Seal TikTok Deal, U.S. Control in Sight
The yearlong standoff over TikTok is nearing a landing. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping are set to meet in South Korea this week, where the White House expects to announce a deal that puts TikTok under American control while keeping the app alive for U.S. users. Their face-to-face is slated around the APEC summit; it would be their first in-person talks since 2019. Mark your calendar: Thursday, October 30, 2025.
This endgame has roots in a 2024 law that forced ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a nationwide ban. Courts have since backed the measure, tightening the window for action and putting legal muscle behind a sale.
The framework taking shape gives U.S. investors the joystick. Reporting points to an Oracle- and Silver Lake-led group acquiring roughly 80% of a new U.S. entity. ByteDance would hold under 20%, with no access to American user data or security committees. The American side would control data and the recommendation system; ByteDance could license a version of its algorithm, but from the U.S. perspective, the keys stay stateside.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled the pieces are locked in, framing the expected announcement as part of a broader effort to cool the temperature on U.S.–China trade friction. Bessent has been the administration’s point man on the money and national-security mechanics of this deal since his confirmation in early 2025.
The politics are blunt. Washington wants to shut the door on foreign leverage over a platform that shapes what millions see each day. Beijing wants to avoid handing over core tech outright. The compromise: American majority ownership, U.S. data rings fenced on U.S. soil, and a limited license that preserves TikTok’s “secret sauce” without allowing Beijing a backdoor into U.S. systems. If you’re looking for precedent, this could become the playbook for future cross-border tech fights: control the data, lock down governance, and keep the product running.
None of this is done until the principals say so on the record. Still, the runway looks clear heading into Korea, with both sides incentivized to pocket a win and move on to larger issues—tariffs, rare-earths, and the grinding trade agenda that never sleeps. TikTok’s fate has always been bigger than short videos; it’s been a test of who sets the rules for platforms that shape public opinion. On Thursday, we’ll see if that test gets a clean pass.
US, China reach deal to allow TikTok sale, Bessent says — with Trump and Xi set to ‘consummate’ agreement https://t.co/XjV5LjhXTO pic.twitter.com/iNw2Iqz4Af
— New York Post (@nypost) October 26, 2025
Evening Brief: One Dead in Lincoln University Shooting, Flights to Los Angeles International Airport Stopped Due to Air Traffic Controller Shortage
As gunfire shattered Lincoln University’s homecoming and an air traffic controller shortage tied to the shutdown forced a ground stop at LAX, Trump and Xi moved toward a TikTok deal that could recalibrate tech and trade at a volatile moment. It’s Sunday, October 26, 2025. You made it through your weekend, now here’s your SOFREP Evening Brief.
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